Coffee To Go: The KeepCup

Is there a viable alternative to takeout coffee cups that can satisfy both coffee drinkers and baristas? KeepCup hopes so: Check out one Australian company's "perfect" reusable cup.

Available in four sizes (and fully color-customizable on keepcup.com), this sturdy little sip-and-go container is designed not only with sustainability in mind, but also coffee craftsmanship. The short, squat shape is intended to better allow baristas to mimic to-stay quality drinks in to-go convenient vessels: The smaller versions actually fit directly under the portafilter spouts on most espresso machines, and the different size options encourage a perfect coffee-to-milk ratio for most common types of cafe beverages. An eight-ounce KeepCup, for instance, holds the perfect cappuccino; the twelve ouncer is a latte-lover's dream. There's even a large, for all that totally necessary drip coffee on especially rough mornings.

(In my opinion, you can skip the mini: If you don't have time to drink a three-swallow espresso or macchiato out of a real ceramic cup, then you probably don't have time to go to a cafe to order an espresso or a macchiato in the first place.)

The little cuties are made of noninsulated plastic with "thermal properties similar to paper," so don't expect to let your Americano marinate at the same temperature all day: These aren't thermoses, they are waste-reducing tumblers. They're also admittedly not a reinvention of the takeout-coffee wheel. There are countless versions of basically the same thing (e.g. the "I am not a paper cup" cup, and even Mug Hug, a reusable silicone lid meant to transform your kitchen cup into an on-the-go option). Heck, everyone has gotten a travel mug from a coworker for a birthday at some point, right?

The main differences here might be a) how precious and customizable the KeepCup is, b) that there's a wide range of appropriate sizes, and c) the sheer audacity of the Earth-friendy marketing jargon the company employs. ("Compared to a disposable paper cup, KeepCup [including coffee] reduces landfill by up to 99%." Really? Intense!)

The shape and sizes alone are enough to recommend them, and the colors are a nice touch indeed. After all: If you're going to do your part to save the world, you may as well do it with a caffeinated degree of pizzazz, right?

For over a decade, Meister has lived a double life as both a writer and a coffee professional—though she has yet to figure out which is her Dr. Jekyll side and which Mr. Hyde. Her day job is as a member of the customer support team for Counter Culture Coffee, and she has written and/or edited for The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, Slashfood.com, Time Out NY, BUST Magazine, Barista Magazine, and Chickpea Magazine in addition to her work with this fine site. On her own, she blogs about cooking adventures (and misadventures) at The Nervous Cook, and about learning to love the long run at Running While Smiling.

She, her husband, and their dog share a too-small Chelsea apartment that's stuffed to the gills with books, vintage clothes, and a whole lot of tchotchkes.

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